Amit and The Test of Tests

The boy stood at the gates of Muktidham. The sun was rising in the distance, colouring the sky with shades of orange and purple as it crept over the horizon. A cool wind blew through the boy's curly hair and played with his few stray pieces of clothing. He pulled his tattered tunic closer to him, but it was no use - he would need to get a new one today.

"Name?" a voice asked gruffly behind him. The boy turned around to face the man who had snuck up on him. His face was rough and weathered, like all those who lived outside of Muktidham. His expression was stern and unyielding, his eyes dark and deep like all those who lived inside of Muktidham.

"Amit." The boy replied simply, darting his eyes away from the man's gaze.

The man nodded curtly, "Follow me," he said in an emotionless tone, turning on his heel and walking towards the gate. Amit followed silently behind him, taking in their surroundings as they walked towards the large double doors that marked their entrance into Muktidham. All around them were groups of people from every walk of life - some with hope in their eyes, others with despair. Some were wealthy and well dressed; others were poor and starving. But all of them were there for the same reason - to live within the walls of Muktidham and be protected from the outside world. It was a city built on the principles of peace and prosperity, where everyone strived to be the best they could be - at least, that was what Amit had been told when he was younger by his parents' closest friends, who always seemed to have money whenever they visited.

That was before they died though...

"Hey! You! Boy!" Amit looked around quickly, but there were no other children nearby so he assumed it must have been him they were talking to. "Get back here!" a woman called out as Amit began moving forward once more.

Amit stopped mid-step and turned around, looking for the voice again before realising that it had come from inside one of the windows above him. As he looked up to search for where it had come from he saw a young girl staring down at him from a second story window above his head; her wavy locks were golden blonde and her skin pale white - she looked like an angel in Amit's eyes as she stared down at him curiously from her perch high atop her tower in Muktidham.

"What are you doing? My father won't like this." She cried when she finally noticed Amit looking up at her window box and waved a book in front of her face as if she was trying to swat away an annoying fly or mosquito buzzing around her head. A moment later she frowned when that didn't work either, so instead she opened her window and leaned out into thin air before dropping her book onto Amit's head below her tower window box while still clinging onto its frame for dear life. It landed on top of Amit's head making him jump slightly as he watched it fall down onto his feet below him; he picked it up gingerly but remained standing still as he realised he had been caught staring up at someone else's house while standing outside of Muktidham's gates waiting to enter into its walls for what would likely be the first time ever in his life because...well...he didn't really know why really...he just knew that he needed to get inside somehow because...well...he didn't really know why again...but he just knew that whatever was going on between himself and whatever was going on outside those gates wasn't good for him apparently so...whatever it is I need to get in there because...I don't know why I just do okay?!?

He turned away from the girl reluctantly after watching her stare back down at him for another few seconds (which felt like an eternity) with her piercing grey blue eyes before their gazes locked together once more forcing Amit to look back up at her only to find that she had disappeared from sight leaving only an empty window box that sat high above Amit's head mocking him with thoughts about how easy it would be for someone up there to drop something else on top of his head or worse yet jump out themselves without any sort of warning whatsoever thus causing quite possibly irreparable damage to both parties involved should such an incident occur which would very likely prevent whoever did such a thing from getting into Muktidham ever again thus preventing them from getting access to all sorts of things like food or water or clothes or shoes which nobody wants obviously seeing as how everyone living outside these walls is either very rich or very poor which can cause lots of problems if you're not careful enough which is exactly what happened with Amit's mother and father seeing as how they couldn't afford any food or clothes or shoes or anything really seeing as how they weren't rich enough to buy any more things than they already had so...I guess I'm better off inside here anyway right? That's probably why my parents left me here instead of taking me there with them too right? Because they thought I'd have better chances inside those walls than out here obviously! They're smart people my parents so I guess whatever decision they made has worked out perfectly fine for me now hasn't it? I mean look at me now being brought along by this strange man into this strange place with weird people all around me who seem even stranger than I am myself! Well whatever whatever let's just go with this flow because maybe better things await me inside these walls so shall we start heading towards them then shall we? With this strange man? Who knows maybe I'll even make some friends today maybe even some friends who are girls since that seems unlikely otherwise since I've never met any girls here before other than my parents' closest friends who visit every once in awhile but besides them I've never met any girls here before not even teachers or doctors or anyone else who works here besides my parents' closest friends so that must mean something right because surely there are lots more girls living here in Muktidham than just my parents' closest friends right? So yes somewhere amongst all these strange people stands a girl somewhere ready and waiting to be my friend! And let us hope that she looks nicer than this girl standing atop a tower box overlooking all these people below us so let us move forward towards our destiny! Keeping our eyes trained ahead towards our goal! Moving step by step forward towards our dreams! Hoping against all odds that nothing stops us from reaching our destination unscathed until finally...we reach our destination without having left anything vital behind us along our journey which would be bad otherwise seeing as how we need everything possible if we want to survive inside these walls which are full of dangers everywhere you turn so let us keep moving forward! Forward towards our fate! Towards what awaits us beyond these gates because hopefully something great lies ahead for us truly truly truly truly truly truly truly truly truly truly truly truly truly truly truly truly truly truly beyond these gates beyond these gates beyond these gates beyond these gates beyond these gates beyond these gates beyond these gates beyond these gates beyond these gates beyond these gates beyond these gates beyond these gates beyond these gates beyond these gates ...